Answer Me, Love
by Liaetha
Summary: PG-13 for teen pregnancy. Ginny comforts Draco, only to have him turn on her when his father is released from Azkaban. What's Ginny to do? R&R! 3 Liaetha
1. A Comforting Embrace

"Mum!" Ginny's cry traveled up the stairs as the stood, pulling on a light coat, waiting by the fireplace in the Burrow. A dancing red flame sat waiting for her to throw in a handful of Floo-Powder, to take her to wherever she desired.  
  
"What, Gin?" Her father cried down the stairs, sounding very tired. There was a big thing going on at the Ministry, ever since Fudge realized that Dumbledore had been telling the truth, but no one would tell Ginny about it. 'Too young,' they told her, even though she'd be turning fifteen in September. Ginny pulled her coat tighter around her.  
  
"Where's Mum?" Ginny called back.  
  
"She's not here, baby doll. She's at an Order meeting."  
  
"Oh. Why aren't you there too?"  
  
"Serious Ministry business. What do you need, honey?"  
  
"I'm going to Diagon Alley, okay Daddy?"  
  
"Oh, alright. Be back before dark." Ginny sighed and put her hand into the flowerpot. She pulled up a handful of shimmering powder that sifted through her fingers, pouring back into the pot and onto the worn wooden floor. Tossing it into the fire, it hissed and puffed into emerald flames. Ginny stepped in, being careful at the threshold so not to trip, said her destination, and immediately began spinning.  
  
She closed her eyes and tucked her elbows in almost as an afterthought. She'd done this so many times before. 'I need parchment, quills, ink... let's see... robes...' Ginny though boredly as she landed lightly on her feet on the cobblestone street of Diagon Alley, right out in front of Gringotts. Straightening her hair as she walked, she wasn't looking where she was going. Now she was bound to bump into somebody, wasn't she?  
  
Suddenly, Ginny felt a thud as ran straight into a man's chest, and found herself on the ground, on her back. She groaned, reaching a hand up to touch her head. It was very sore, the culprit being a loose cobblestone that stuck up further from the others.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, are you..." The voice trailed off as Ginny opened her eyes, and found herself staring directly into Draco Malfoy's eyes. He looked back at her, but not with the usual kind of coldness that he often reserved for Harry Potter and the Weasley family. As Ginny looked deep into his eyes, past the steel gray, she saw loneliness, sadness, and the thing that surprised her most: Fear. Draco Malfoy, deep in his heart, was scared of something unmentioned.  
  
Ginny slowly stood up, rubbing her behind where it first came into contact with the ground. She moved her neck from side to side, then stopped to look at Draco. He took a small step back. Ginny, confused, simply said, "No, it was my fault. Sorry." Draco opened his mouth as if to say something, then turned to walk away. Ginny's arm shot out and she grabbed his hand. She watched his body stiffen as he turned to face her.  
  
"What do you want?" Draco said quietly, almost sadly. Ginny felt like crying. He seemed so lost. And then she remembered about his father, how he was in Azkaban.  
  
"To talk." She looked up at him and gave a slight smile. Draco looked around quickly.  
  
"Follow me." He said, still holding her hand, and began pulling her through the crowd.  
  
"So why are you here?" Ginny sat in a cushy chair, in a room on the second story of the Leaky Cauldron. The whole room was rather dark. The curtains were pulled, and the place had a sort of depressed air about it. 'Is this how Draco's feeling?' Ginny wondered. Normally she hated Draco Malfoy. But Ginny had thought about how terrible it might be to lose your father, and almost everything you knew. That thought alone had almost made her cry. She knew how upset she was to almost lose her father. Draco had suffered a step further. And it had changed him.  
  
"It's bad at home." He said softly, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Voldemort has been there constantly." Ginny cringed inwardly, trying not to change her face. She met his gaze, he gave a shuddering sigh, and continued.  
  
"I know what you're thinking. That I'm a Death Eater. I'll never... be like them. Before Voldemort came around, my Father was a good man. He was kind to me. But after he became a follower, he changed. I still have to be on their side. But I don't have to be one of them."  
  
Ginny, in a sudden burst of compassion, moved to the bed and sat next to him, hugging him softly. 'What are you doing, Ginny Weasley? This is a Malfoy. He's probably thinking the same about you.' But she couldn't let go. He felt... good. Draco pulled back slowly from the hug, gazing at her. Ginny felt her stomach flutter nervously as Draco slowly moved closer. She looked fleetingly into his eyes, at his lips, then closed her eyes, waiting. The sun was fading behind the hills now.  
  
His lips were soft and comforting. It was brief. Both pulled back, shocked, and looked at each other. Ginny pulled him in for another longer kiss. Their sweet, innocent kisses soon turned to passion. Draco pushed Ginny's soft red hair behind her ear and kissed her neck, loving her taste, her smell.  
  
"Draco..." Ginny breathed. He moved up and looked into her hazel eyes and gulped, trying to force away these new feelings for and old enemy.  
  
"Ginny, our families..." Quietly, Draco almost wished that the rest of his family would just drop dead. This new feeling, passion or love, was unfamiliar, but he didn't want to let it go. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and take her away from the war, the fighting, the pain.  
  
"Draco, I couldn't care less..." Those were words that Ginny would have normally not said. The feeling, it was different than she felt about Harry. This was something new, foriegn, and like all other unfamiliar things, she wanted to learn more. She reached up and tucked a stray lock of silver blonde hair behind his ear, running her fingers down his pale skin. He, in turn reached up and touched the almost faded freckles across the bridge of her nose. Moving his hand behind her head, tangling his fingers in her hair, he pulled her slowly closer and kissed her.  
  
The sun had set. Ginny did not care. They lay together on the bed as darkness closed around the room. 


	2. Sweet Nothings

Ginny opened her eyes to the bright light of the morning sun. She moved her arms up and stroked Draco's face and hands. Gazing into his sleeping face, she remembered last night's events. 'I'm so young...' She thought, 'But it feels so right...' She untangled herself from his limbs and slid her bare legs aver the edge of the bed, gazing into the mirror. There was a change in her. It was different, but she couldn't pin it right on. She shrugged it off and looked at the grandmother clock that rested on the dresser.  
  
"Oh my gosh!" Ginny gasped softly, remembering Draco sleeping soundly. She pulled on her clothes silently, gazing out the window at the daylight. Her light jacket wouldn't be needed, but she pulled it on anyways. She scribbled out a note to Draco on a parchment scrap and set it on the pillow next to him. Bending down slowly, she kissed him gently on the forehead.  
  
"I love you, Ginny." He whispered from his sleep. Ginny smiled softly.  
  
"I love you, too." She murmered. She stepped out the door, and with a last fleeting look at Draco's sleeping figure, she shut the door and made her way slowly home.  
  
In the middle of the day, the Weasley family, including her two brothers who worked out of the country but came home for the summer, were usually outside, eating apple pie and cold sandwiches in the blazing sun. Today they sat in the living room, facing away from the fireplace. Her mother sat holding Hermione's hand tightly on the couch, while Ron and Harry stood uncertainly behind her. Fred and George, who had come to visit for a couple of days, stood in the middle of the room by Charlie and Percy, who was chewing his nails. All of them looked fidgety. She could hear her father talking on the fellytone in the hallway, with Bill giving out hushed whispers. Ginny pulled off her sandals and tip-toed past her family, unnoticed. Placing her foot cautiously on the first step in the kitchen, it gave a groaning creak.  
  
"Damnit!" Ginny muttered as she heard the fellytone hit the floor and a million footsteps clamber to the room. Her mother's flushed and tear- stained face stuck out from her tousled, unwashed hair, and Ginny felt a pang of guilt for making her mother worry so. Everyone tried to hug her at once, and tried to scold her at the same time. Ginny backed up slowly, not wanting to be part of it. It didn't feel right, not after what happened with Draco. How he told her how he felt about his family. She stepped up another step, going backwards so as the watch the crowd, who hadn't noticed the new creak or the fact that Ginny wasn't in the center of their huddle. She took a deep breath and took slow step up the stairs, turning around. She took another few steps before stopping dead.  
  
"Ginerva Anne-Marie Weasley! Where were you?!" Her father bellowed, not sounding like himself at all. Ginny felt a sudden anger at her family. For everything, all at once. For not including her in the Order. For them always being there for her, while Draco had nothing. For being poor. For always getting her everything second-handed. Fer being them. For caring enough to yell at her for being gone. She hated it.  
  
"Out," She snapped, eyes blazing, her anger suddenly consuming her. Her father went up the steps two at a time and stood towering in front of her. Unmoved, she glared up into his gaze. She'd never seen him this angry, but then she'd never been as angry as she was now. She was unintimidated. She moved her eyes and saw Harry, Hermione and Ron gazing, dumbstruck, in total disbelief about her sudden change in behavior.  
  
"Where are your school things?" Arthur said menacingly. Ginny blinked and turned, walking up the stairs and into her room. No one came after her.  
  
"I didn't buy any!" She yelled down at them, shutting her door softly. The fellytone extension in her room began to ring and she stepped across the soft violet carpet to pick it up.  
  
"Hello?" She said quietly, so her parents didn't hear her talking.  
  
"Ginny..." Draco murmered from over the fellytone. "How are you?" Ginny felt her anger melt away as she realized the genuine concern in his voice. She sighed happily and closed her eyes, remembering the encounter.  
  
"I'm... great." She said happily, smiling ear-to ear. She knew that Draco was smiling on the other end.  
  
"Listen, Ginny, about last night..." Ginny felt her heart drop to her stomach. "Did you want that to happen?"  
  
Ginny took a deep breath. "Yes."  
  
Draco sighed in relief. "Me, too. But... I have to go back home. My Mum's sick. She needs me."  
  
"I understand..." Ginny whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek. 'It's only a couple of months,' She told herself. It didn't help.  
  
"I'm so sorry." He said softly. "The Knight Bus is here. I'll see you in school, alright?"  
  
"Okay," Ginny said, brightening a bit. So he wanted to see her!  
  
"I love you, Ginny."  
  
"I love you, too, Draco."  
  
"Good-bye."  
  
"Til next time."  
  
She gently set the reciever back down on the hook and gazed at it, her giddiness showing all over face. She'd never been so happy before. She flopped down on her bed, not a care in the world. She didn't know how much her life could change in a short while. 


	3. What's A Girl To Do?

A soft clink interrupted the deadly silence in the bathroom as Ginny let out a muffled sob, pulled the lever to flush the loo, and sat down on the closed toilet seat. She hugged her arms around her tightly, pulling her knees up to her chest and staring into the empty space in front of her with tear-filled eyes. She hated throwing up. When she was little, her mother would sit behind her and braid her hair into fiery pigtails, rub her back, and whisper soothing words into her ear.  
  
'Those days are over,' Ginny thought sadly, pushing away the memories of her childhood. Her childhood had been ripped away from her, as quick as Avada Kedavra. It was gone. Now she'd be responsible for another childhood. Her own child.  
  
There was no other excuse for it. She'd missed twice now, seemingly had the flu, and even the book her mother had on magical pregnancies and the spell she'd used had told her the same thing. She was fourteen and she was pregnant. That was a lot of stress put upon her. Her mother, father and all of her brother's had always expected better of her. They all said how they wanted her to stay an independant woman, have a great job and stand up for what she believed in. Her parents and Percy wanted her to be a ministry worker. Charlie wanted her to join him in his dragon taming persuit, Bill wanted her to work for Gringotts, the twins wanted her in their joke shop, Ron wanted her to be a chaser on the Chudley Cannon's quidditch team, and she...  
  
... wanted to be a mother.  
  
The first time Ginny thought about it was the first time Ginny had wondered why she'd missed. What if I am? she'd thought. It wouldn't be so bad, with Draco around. They could have a cute little house, with a dog and a white- picket fence and daisies under the windows. Ginny had smiled at the thought. But she knew it would be hard, and often doubted that she could do it. She was only a child.  
  
She hadn't told anyone. Not Draco, because she had no way to get a hold of him. Not her parents, because they would have killed her then and there. Definitely not her brothers, because they would castrate Draco and feed him to the garden gnomes. 'I'll tell them in a letter,' Ginny thought suddenly, bringing up her head a bit. 'I'll-'  
  
The bathroom door swung open and slammed into the wall, making Ginny jump a foot in the air and land with a smack on the floor. She closed her eyes and cursed inwardly, reaching a hand to put on her stomach. Harry and Ron stood fuming. Ginny looked at both of them in wild-eyed terror, afraid to think what they were so angry about.  
  
'Oh, I hope they didn't read my diary...' Ginny thought, frightened, as she slowly blinked and gulped, tilting her head to look at them. Harry thrust an article in her face and Ginny read the headline.  
  
LUCIUS MALFOY RELEASED FROM AZKABAN-MINISTER PROCLAIMS HIS INNOCENCE  
  
"WHAT?!" Ginny bellowed, becoming absolutely furious. "BUT HE'S NOT INNOCENT! THAT LYING, CHEATING, SON OF A-" Ron clamped a hand over her mouth to silence her. Ginny glared at him and thought to bite his hand.  
  
"Mum's home." He whispered, then Harry reached out his hand to pull her up, letting it linger for a moment. She looked at him, wide eyed, and he took a step away. Ginny shook her head and brushed past them, slipping into her room and shutting the door behind her, pressing the little button that locked it. She gazed at her school things, spread out over her bed. Striding over, she packed everything into her school trunk, placing her books, parchments and quills at the bottom, followed by her regular robes, then her dress robes, her clothes, an extra pair of shoes, her money, and to top it off, her baby blanket. It was the only thing that had not been a hand-me-down. Her mother had sewn it just for her. There were blue traingles, red triangles, and ones with heart shaped balloons, with the ruffled edge.  
  
She shut her trunk with a soft click and turned the key to lock it, tucking the key into the pocket of the school robes she planned to put on tomorrow. Blowing out her candle, she slipped between her soft clean sheets and slipped into a fretful sleep.  
  
The next morning came rainy. As Ginny pulled her raincoat around her, the door to her parents' new station wagon swung open, and she saw Ron look at her uncertainly. He touched her arm as he slid in, Harry after him, followed by Hermione. They, too, were looking at her with concern.  
  
"Gin, are you okay?" Ron asked, unsure. Ginny looked at him, then to Harry, who spoke next.  
  
"You haven't been youself."  
  
"Yeah," Hermione chipped in, "We've been worried about you."  
  
'At least they care,' Ginny thought, but pushed Ron's hand away. "I'm fine," and she crawled over the back of the seat to sit in the back, so she could watch the Burrow as her father pulled the car out. The rain pounded at the car all the way to King's Cross, as Ginny stared out at them, wishing she could dance and splash in the puddles. Ginny would have normally pulled her trunk out to put on the train, just to prove that she was as strong as all of the boys, but she didn't know if it would do anything to the baby. The book said it wouldn't, but she wasn't taking any chances.  
  
"Harry, could you get my trunk, too, please?" Ginny asked, clambering out of the back of the beat-up car. Harry gave her a nervous smile and answered by hoisting up her trunk after his. Ginny returned the half-smile and picked up Hedwig, who promptly woke up and gave a soft hoot. She winked at the owl and followed Harry onto the train. "Sit with us, Ginny?"  
  
She turned to see Hermione and Ron, who had put their things away already, holding hands. 'About time,' Ginny thought. They'd been at each other so much since the day they met it was as though they'd been married. Ginny gave a grateful smile and nodded happily, then the two left, saying something about a Prefect's meeting in a front compartment. Harry put her trunk in the overhead compartment with ease. After placing his trunk after hers, he took a seat next to Ginny, and gave her a little smile. "You can always talk to me, Ginny. You know I'll understand." Ginny looked away, out the window. The hills were flying past now, and there were less and fewer houses and they went. "Please." Ginny collapsed. It was so much. She had to tell; it had been eating at her for months. She fell into his chest, sobbing out her whole story. She told him about how scared she was that she wouldn't do it right. Everything came out before she could stop it.  
  
"Who is the father?" Harry said. That was all he could say; Ginny could tell from the look on his face that he had been expecting something much less dramatic. "I can't say." Harry nodded, telling her that he understood. Ginny felt an all too familiar feeling in her throat. "Excuse me." She managed to choke, and ran out of the compartment and down the hall to the loo's.  
  
She wiped her mouth and rinsed her mouth out with cold water from the tap. Rubbing her eyes, she slid the door open and promptly found herself on the ground. Confused, she looked up to meet Draco's eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, then Draco scowled at her and turned to walk away. "Wait!" Ginny cried, pulling herself up. He looked at her through narrowed eyes, apparently not the same as he was in Diagon Alley. 'I'm pregnant,' she mouthed. His eyes widened, and Ginny thought he'd come back to her, to tell her that everything would be okay. Instead, he let out a snicker and said out loud, "Tough luck." and walked away, diappearing around the corner.  
  
It all hit her at one. Ginny sobbed uncontrollably, hugging her knees to her and rocking herself back and forth. After an hour or so, Hermione and Ron stumbled around the corner, giggling and smiling, until they saw Ginny. She continued rocking, back and forth. Ginny's world slowly turned to black from the outside in, and she tipped over to the right, smacking her head on the heavy wall. Ginny's only thought, as she fainted, was that she was all alone. 


	4. The Truth About Minerva

Ginny sat in front of the blazing fire in the Gryffindor Common Room, her packed trunk by her side, her robes stretched across her growing abdomen. It was seven months, now. Dumbledore had allowed her to stay up in her room after hearing about what had happened. But Ginny was getting sick of her confinement. She wanted to go home, even though her father didn't acknowledge her presence and her mother never said a word to her. She wanted to be back in her room, among her stuffed animals, her posters and books and drawings... and away fom Draco Malfoy's cold, accusing eyes. Every time she saw him in the halls, in the Great Hall, anywhere, he never met her eyes, but she could see into his. Out of shame, she'd often feel like throwing up and sometimes did.

She took a deep yawn as Professor McGonagall clambered through the portrait hole. Her tartan robe was tied neatly in the front, her nightcap tilted on top of her head, over her tight black bun. She held a dripping candlestick is her left hand, which she set on the table beside the couch. Sitting beside Ginny, she put her hand on her knee. Ginny looked up, startled, gave a small smile, said "Hello, Professor." and looked back into the fire.

"Your parents just sent word. They'll be here soon." Professor McGonagall said, her voice strained. Ginny nodded, still staring into the fire, trying to sort out her confusing feelings. Professor McGonagall took a deep gulp, and said nervously,

"I know how you feel."

Ginny gave a her a sad, lost look. How could she know? The immense stress of handling it alone, with her family even angry at her, not supporting her decision to keep her baby, was so much. Only someone who had been through the same thing could know. Professor McGonagall reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled picture, and held it towards Ginny. Curious, Ginny reached out a hand to take it.

"That's my daughter."

Ginny saw Professor McGonagall, a young woman, with a girl hanging off of her back, around fifteen or sixteen, both with raven hair, long and flowing. They were both smiling, apparently happy with not a care in the world. There were tiny water stains on the picture, clouding the girl's face, so Ginny couldn't see her features. Genuinely shocked, Ginny stared, openmouthed, at Professor McGonagall, who began to tell her story.

"When I was sixteen, I fell in love with a man I'll call Thomas. We were both young, and stupid. We thought that it would last forever. We thought we were responsible enough to handle the intimacy. But we weren't. When I found out that I was pregnant, I told Thomas right away. He didn't believe me. It took a while, but after I convinced him, he left me. He told me that he couldn't have something as unimportant as a family destroy his plans. I was heartbroken. I convinced my father and mother to let me finish school by mail, while I waited out the birth of my baby. At home, my parents never acknowledged my presence or anything that I said or did. They were disappointed. In those days, things like that didn't happen. I kept up my studies, doing well in school."

"Jennifer Lynne was born at 3:04 in the morning on April 27th. She was perfect, beautiful, and my parents actually spoke to me, telling me that no child had ever been so beautiful, or any woman so lucky to have such an adorable baby. I still didn't understand, though. Why did Thomas leave? What was it that I did? Was it even I who drove him away? Was it fear of commitment? Of love? Thomas had never had a family. He'd grown up in an orphanage. Maybe he was scared that he wouldn't do it right. But the first time I held my baby girl, I swore to myself that she'd have a better life."

"When Jenny was four, Armondo Dippet died, and Albus Dumbledore became Headmaster of Hogwarts. He was a good man, very compassionate, and his promotion meant an open space as Transfiguration teacher. Thinking of me, and remembering my skill in the subject, he wrote to me, asking me to take the job. I immediately accepted. Jenny and I had our own little space to live. It was perfect; everything I'd ever dreamed of. Eleven years passed exactly, and Jenny was in her fifth year at Hogwarts. We were on a little vacation in London, buying some little muggle trinkits. That was something I now wish I'd never taken her to do."

"As you know, around that time, a wizard named Grindalwald was rising. That day, we were in a little shop full of trinkits and toys, trying to find something for one of her friends, a first year whose little baby brother had just died. As we selected something and paid for it, there was an explosion from the back of the shop. My first instinct was to duck. When I stood up, I saw Grindelwald, looking much like a regular man, standing in the middle of the street, a gaggle of followers by his side, laughing maniacally. They disapparated. There were shards of glass in my hair, falling down my back. I was unharmed, though. But I couldn't find Jenny."

"I ran through the broken window, screaming for her. There were people bleeding everywhere, dying and injured. Screaming muggles were drawing the attention of cars passing on the bridge overhead. I was so worried about Jenny. I searched for half an hour, turning dead bodies over and looking under rubble, all the while screaming her name. Underneath a woman holding her baby, both dead, I found Jenny. There was a piece of large glass protruding from her chest, right in the middle. Jenny gave me a small smile and winced. She must have been in so much pain. I held her in my lap, and she handed me the gift we had selected for her friend. She told me to give it to her, and to tell her that she loved her. Jenny then told me that she loved me, and she died in my arms."

"I thought I'd never get over it. I never have. It's been so many years. But I know how hard it is to be betrayed and untrusted. It hurts. Looking at you, I remember what it was like. My hope for you is that your baby will live, they way mine couldn't." Professor McGonagall finished slowly, and let out a large sob, her thick, pearly tears falling onto the photo in her hands. Ginny reached over, so sympethetic that it hurt, and held her crying teacher close. It had never occured to Ginny before. She'd always seen Minerva McGonagall as a rigid woman, with no feeling whatsoever. But after hearing what she'd just heard, she realized that everyone had their own story. And as she rocked Minerva McGonagall back and forth, she began to wonder about Draco's life. Why was he the way he was? What could have caused his coldness? All Ginny could do without answers was to be grateful that she hadn't turned bitter.


End file.
